Category Archives: Plants & Fungi

plants & fungi

Seen This Week

Bird Behavior, Insects, Plants & Fungi
Germander in bloom, Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

6 July 2024

Flowers, insects and birds were active this week though the end of the week was so humid that it felt like the tropics. Here’s a trail of photos from Duck Hollow, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, Schenley Park and my own neighborhood.

Don’t forget to check out the two photos at the end: A mystery match-the-leaves moth or butterfly and some amazing bird behavior.

Deptford pink, Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Chickory in bloom, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

With false sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) at their peak in Schenley Park, the red aphids are out in full force.

Aphids on false sunflower, Schenley Park, 5 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Wineberry is already forming fruits.

Wineberry, fruit forming, Schenley Park, 5 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

I found a moth or butterfly that I could not identify at Duck Hollow. It was impossible to get close for a photo so this is the best I could do. Perched on Japanese knotweed. Can you tell me what it is?

What species is this insect? Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

And here’s some bird behavior I’ve never seen before: Two red-tailed hawks are perched on the hoist rope of this enormous crane on O’Hara Street near Thackeray on 29 June. This crane spends five days a week moving back and forth. I’m amazed that they decided to test it on a Saturday. Can you see them? If not, click here for a marked-up photo.

p.s. The dewpoint was 70°F yesterday. This link explains why that feels so hot.

p.p.s. See Karen’s comment below in which she identifies it as a Bad-wing moth (Dyspteris abortivaria). So my next question is, Why is it called a bad wing? –> And see J’s comment with the answer!

Seen On Laurel Mountain

Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Songbirds
Canada warbler, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

15 June 2024

During spring warbler migration I try to see as many species as possible as they pass through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Unfortunately, I missed some of my favorites this year, most notably the Canada warbler (Cardellina canadensis), so Charity Kheshgi and I went to Laurel Mountain last Sunday to find them on their breeding grounds.

The air was filled with veery (Catharus fuscescens) songs when we arrived at Laurel Summit State Park.

We thought we’d be able to see at least one of the two Canada warblers we heard singing along Spruce Bog Trail, but not. However, we got lucky on the Picnic Trail when the bird pictured above and below approached us making his warning call.

Canada warbler, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Here’s an example of what he sounded like:

There was plentiful shade in the forest, but that made the birds harder to see. This ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) is nicely lit but still in the dark.

Ovenbird, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

We found other delights on the mountain. A tiger swallowtail butterfly sipped nectar from pitcher plant flowers at Spruce Bog.

Tiger swallowtail at pitcher plant flowers, Spruce Bog, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Pennsylvania’s state flower, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), was in bloom.

Mountain laurel in bloom, Laurel Summit State Park, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

This trillium gone to seed showed well in dappled sunlight.

Trillium gone to seed, Laurel Mtn, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

We heard more birds than we could see, ultimately tallying 24 species in our checklist here.

Now Blooming: Pretty Invasives

Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Orange day-lily, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herr’s Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

10 June 2024

Between the glory of woodland spring ephemerals and summer’s splash of native field flowers, June has fewer blooming natives. On a walk yesterday along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Millvale I found a host of pretty flowers, many of them invasive.

Orange day-lily (Hemerocallis fulva) is native to Asia and well established in Pennsylvania. You’ll see it blooming in ditches, along railroad tracks and in gardens. It pops up in so many places that it has at least 10 common names. Orange day-lily is considered invasive in Pennsylvania because its tubers create thick clumps that crowd out native plants in sensitive habitats.

Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) is listed as one of the world’s worst invasive species. Right now its flowers have just opened in southwestern PA. By the end of summer the flowers will be in long, sweet-smelling racemes, a favorite of bees and butterflies.

New flowers on Japanese knotweed, , Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herr’s Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Crown vetch (Securigera varia), native to Eurasia and Africa, is in now full bloom. Read about its invasive qualities here.

Crown vetch in bloom, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herr’s Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

What’s that popcorn-like smell? It’s poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) and it’s in bloom. You won’t want this plant anywhere you find it. Here’s how to get rid of it; expect a multi-year effort.)

Poison hemlock flowersWhite sweet clover flowers, Three Rivers Heritage Trail near Herr’s Island, 9 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

(all photos by Kate St. John)

How a Vine Wraps a Twig

Plants & Fungi
Hops vine (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

24 May 2024

If you drink beer you’re familiar with the flavor of hops which is used as a bittering, flavoring, and stability agent in beer. Depending on the variety, hops can also add floral, fruity, or citrus flavors and aromas.

The hops plant itself, Humulus lupulus, is a perennial vine (*) that vigorously twines itself around uprights and strings in the hopfield.

Hops vine climbing a twig (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

To do so it uses to a motion called Circumnutation.

Circumnutation refers to the circular movements often exhibited by the tips of growing plant stems, caused by repeating cycles of differences in growth around the sides of the elongating stem.

— Wikipedia: Nutation (botany) account

The wrapping happens slowly, but if you speed it up here’s what it looks like.

video embedded from gohepcat on YouTube

(*) Doug Gross pointed out that in the hops-growing world these are called “bines” because they don’t have tendrils.

Puzzling Objects Seen This Week

Deer, Musings & News, Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Leaf-out reveals the browseline, Schenley Park, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

11 May 2024

This week I photographed a few puzzling objects for the record.

When I took a photo of Full Leaf trees in Schenley Park on 5 May I noticed something newly visible in the presence of leaves. Can you see it?

Look at the center of the photo where the path disappears in the distance. Above the path is a gap that allows you to see further under the trees. The gap flows to the right and follows the contour of the hillside. That’s the browseline, the cumulative effect of too many deer eating at the same location over and over.

I saw a native(!) honeysuckle this week. Pink with fused leaves, it’s called limber or glaucous honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica).

Limber or glaucous honeysuckle, Moraine State Park, 7 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Was this a cattle egret at Moraine State Park? If so it was a rare bird! Nope. It’s a white bag.

Cattle Egret at Moraine State Park? (photo by Kate St. John, 7 May 2024)

On 3 May a leaf-footed bug appeared to walk across the sky.

Leaf-footed bug walks across the sky, 3 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

During the Pittsburgh Marathon Dippy the dinosaur watched near the halfway mark.

Dippy wears black and gold for the Pittsburgh Marathon, 5 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

What puzzles will we see this week?

Seen This Week at Enlow Fork

Migration, Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Fire pink, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

27 April 2024

Last Thursday four of us made our annual pilgrimage to Enlow Fork on the border of Washington & Greene Counties(*) to look for wildflowers and birds. We saw carpets of blue-eyed Mary as well as fire pink, wild geranium and dwarf larkspur in both blue and white. (Can you see the tiny spider on the fire pink petal, above?)

Hillside of Blue-eyed Mary and wild blue phlox, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)
Wild Geranium, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Dwarf larkspur white form, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Record-setting rain in the beginning of April left flood debris in the valley. Donna Foyle photographed the fallen trees that nearly hit the pedestrian bridge.

Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)

I tried to capture the water-swept mud and flood depth by photographing debris stuck in the trees. The high water mark here was up to my chin.

Enlow Fork flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

The floodwaters swept freshwater clams from their homes leaving their empty shells among the flood debris.

Dead freshwater clams were among the flood debris, 25 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

We didn’t see many birds at first, perhaps because it was so cold. By the time we were ready to walk back it had warmed up enough to see my First Of Year Baltimore oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager deep in the woods.

Scarlet tanager First of Year, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)

We also saw or heard seven warblers including Louisiana waterthrush, common yellowthroat, northern parula, redstart, Nashville, yellow and yellow-throated warblers.

At one point I put my bright hat (on top of my sun hat & headband) in case a distant wood thrush would notice. The thrush did not, but I earned the name “Golden-crowned Katelet.”

Golden-crowned Katelet, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Donna Foyle)

We had a great day among pale spring leaves and blue-eyed Marys.

Kate St. John, Donna Foyle, Donna Collett, Enlow Fork, 25 April 2024 (photo by Barb Griffith)

Next week will be much warmer. Bring on the birds!

(*) Where is Enlow Fork?

The Enlow Fork of Wheeling Creek forms the boundary between Washington and Greene Counties in southwestern PA. When we say “Enlow Fork” we are referring to the northern section of PA State Gameland #302 on both sides of Enlow Fork creek. The Gamelands (unpaved) parking lot is at this pin drop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uzw42KqYZexLP4AB6.

(credits are in the captions. Thanks to Donna Foyle and Barb Griffith for contributing their photos)

Seen This Week

Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Wild blue phlox, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

20 April 2024

Do you ever feel frantic in the Spring?

This week in Pittsburgh the highs were always above 60°F and three days were in the low 80s. Migratory birds came in a rush midweek while early-blooming flowers went to seed. Spring came so quickly that I couldn’t keep up. It’s enough to make you frantic.

On Monday we went to Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County where we found many of the flowers I’d seen at Barking Slopes. Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) was in full bloom. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), that bloomed in Beaver County on 31 March, had gone to seed. There were so many flowers that I had little time for pictures.

Bloodroot gone to seed, Cedar Creek Park, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

There were some stunningly clear days this week but the partly cloudy ones were more interesting, especially at sunrise: Duck Hollow on 15 April and Oakland on 19 April.

Sunrise at Duck Hollow, 15 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sunrise in Pittsburgh, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Thursday 18 April Charity Kheshgi and I saw great birds in Frick Park.

The trees in town began the week with tiny pale green leaves; Some ended the week with large dark green leaves. American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) was blooming yesterday in Schnley Park.

American bladdernut flowers, Schenley Park, 19 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

The pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) had immature green flowers on Tuesday and mature dark red flowers on Friday. The flowers use their purplish-red color and a fetid smell to attract flies and beetles, not bees.

Pawpaw flowers, Schenley Park, 16 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

That frantic feeling will disappear in the next two days when spring slows down. There’s a Freeze Watch tonight and tomorrow morning.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Seen Last Week

Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Weather & Sky
Coltsfoot gone to seed, Frick Park, 9 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

16 April 2024

Last week was so full of news, from peregrines to floods, that I had to skip my usual “Seen This Week” report. Meanwhile Spring isn’t holding still. Wildflowers are blooming and the early ones have already gone to seed. Here’s a selection of my best photos from last week, April 8-11.

Above and below, three photos from Frick Park. All of these are alien and some are invasive but they are pretty.

  • Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), at top, is found in disturbed soil.
  • Speedwell’s (Veronica persica) tiny flowers bloom in fields and lawns. A dewdrop dangled above this one from a blade of grass.
  • Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) is abundant along creeks and river banks including Duck Hollow and Nine Mile Run. Very invasive, but pretty, which is why it was imported as a garden plant.
Eyebright, Frick Park, 9 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Lesser Celandine, Frick Park, 8 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Last Thursday I visited Barking Slopes for just an hour before the rain chased me away. Even though I didn’t have much time I saw more than 15 species in bloom including:

Large-flowered Trillium, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring Beauty, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Trout Lily, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Blue Cohosh flowers, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Large-flowered bellwort, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Star Chickweed, Barking Slopes, 11 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Spring is here! Get outdoors so you don’t miss it.

(all photos by Kate St. John)

Seen This Week

Deer, Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Weather & Sky
Bloodroot blooming at Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

6 April 2024

This week March went out like a lamb and April came in like a lion.

After photographing garden flowers on Easter morning I traveled out to Independence Marsh in Beaver County. I did not find my target bird, rusty blackbirds, but I did find spring flowers: Dutchmans breeches, cutleaf toothwort, bloodroot (above) and the first tiny bloom on shooting star (below).

Early bloom on shooting star, Independence Marsh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

As soon as March was over, things went wrong. I should have known when I saw this troubled sky of mammatus clouds on Saturday, 30 March. Not a good sign.

Mammatus clouds presage a week of rain, snow and graupel in Pittsburgh, 30 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

It rained and rained and rained on April 1-3, setting a record of 2.68 inches on April 2. Streams and basements were hit hard while the rain was falling. The rivers rose, as shown at at Duck Hollow on 4 April with the Monongahela River at parking lot level. (more flood photos and videos here)

Duck Hollow parking lot — A River Runs Through It — 4 April 2024, 7:19am ET

Later that same day, Thursday 4 April, the temperature fell and so did graupel.

Graupel falls o n4 April 2024 (video by Kate St. John)

Today it’s cold but the precipitation has finally stopped.

Meanwhile ….Remember those beautiful tulips I posted last Sunday, Easter morning?

BEFORE –> Tulips on N. Neville St on Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

And remember the deer I saw between two highrises in Oakland on 24 March?

A deer browsing the garden at a highrise in Pittsburgh, 5:30am 24 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Well, the two met up and the tulips did not fare well.

AFTER –> Same tulips eaten by deer on N. Neville St as of 2 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

That was on N Neville Street. Here’s N Craig Street.

BEFORE –> Tulips in front of a highrise on N Craig St, Easter morning, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
AFTER –> Tulips eaten by deer on N Craig St, 4 April 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Deer damage has come to the “asphalt jungle.”

(photos by Kate St. John)

Easter Flowers

Phenology, Plants & Fungi
Tulips on Easter morning in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

31 March 2024

Easter is early and so is Spring. Tulips are blooming in my city neighborhood.

Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Tulips on Easter morning in Oakland, 31 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Want to see more flowers? Phipps Conservatory’s 2024 Spring Flower Show will be quite busy today. If you haven’t seen it yet, get there soon. It runs through 14 April 2024.

2024 Phipps Spring Flower Show theme

Happy Easter!

(credits are in the captions)